PROGRAM VISIT – October 2023

Refugee.Info, first developed to help refugees and migrants in Greece and the Balkans, was launched in Italy in March 2018. The online platform provides clear and timely information for refugees and asylum seekers in need of local support services, empowering them to make informed decisions about their lives.

The IRC supports vulnerable migrant and asylum-seeking children with alternative care solutions, supporting their legal guardians, and expanding homes for children aging out of care. We are also working with partners in Italy to enhance their capacity to swiftly identify trafficking survivors, as well as strengthen legal assistance and basic support for survivors.

Through our Healing Classrooms approach, the IRC equips teachers with the necessary skills to provide safe and positive learning environments for refugee children. In classrooms where they have a strong sense of belonging and stability, children can build their social, emotional, and academic skills.

Economic empowerment is key to successfully promoting integration and allowing asylum-seekers to rebuild their lives and thrive in their new communities. Since 2020, IRC Italy works with refugees, migrants, and vulnerable populations to overcome barriers to entry into complex and unfamiliar job markets while ensuring that local community members see the value newcomers can bring to their economy.

Since June 2022, IRC Italy has been strengthening its advocacy efforts to ensure that migrants’ and refugees’ rights are respected and upheld. Thanks to monitoring systems put in place in coordination with local actors, IRC monitors the obstacles that individuals seeking international protection face in formalizing their application and accessing the reception system in breach of the EU and Italian legal frameworks – and, when possible, facilitate swift access to the asylum procedure and accommodation.

Donor Delegation Trips are quarterly pre-planned, fee-based group trips of 5 to 10 participants to destinations prioritized based on funding needs and accessibility.

IRC puts forth the greatest possible effort to provide a safe and secure operational environment. However, given the nature of our work, participants on the trip may be exposed to healthcare risks, including but not limited to the risk of communicable diseases such as COVID-19. While IRC communicates and expects all operating partners to comply with and encourage appropriate safeguarding measures, the risk of COVID-19 and other potentially infectious diseases still exists. Visitors are required to review the medical guidelines that are provided by IRC prior to participating in the trip and to carefully consider them as they relate to your own medical profile and medical risk tolerance levels.

Yes, a spouse or partner is welcome to join you for this visit. Please register separately so that required forms may be completed by each individual participant.

IRC cannot host children on our program visits because our Safety and Security measures are not designed with children in mind, and cannot reasonably be adapted to ensure children’s safety.

After the visit, a trip summary, as well as photos and videos from the visit will be shared with all trip participants, which can then be shared with family, friends, and stakeholders of foundations and partners who were unable to join.

Immediately after you register, you will receive an email from the IRC's Program Visits team. This will be your primary contact for trip-related questions or concerns in advance of the visit. Before the visit, you will receive many resources to support your preparation process (see the response to the question below “Are there resources to help me prepare for the upcoming visit?”)

Trip registrants should assume that the itinerary shared with their invitation is the itinerary for their visit, for all intents and purposes. The itinerary is shared at this stage to help set expectations around the locations and program types to be seen, and the pace of the visit. Making changes to meet the interests of individual participants will make it impossible to set realistic expectations.

That said, the itinerary distributed with the invitation is tentative and subject to changes at any time due to circumstances out of our control, such as weather, politics or safety. The itinerary is designed by the hosting country and program teams based on accessibility of programs and priority of funding needs, with the objective of showing as many program highlights as possible.

We aim to avoid having idle time, ensure travel routes are safe and destinations are secure, and recommend flight arrival and departure windows to ensure the best experience.

Immediately after you register for your trip, you will be contacted by the Program Visits team. This will be your primary contact and provide any support you will need in advance of the visit, such as visa invitation letters, flight recommendations, and itinerary updates. Several weeks before your trip, you will receive a Pre-departure Briefing containing history of the regional crisis and IRC’s response efforts, IRC emergency contact information, packing list, safety precautions and cultural norms to be aware of, IRC reports and information sheets, as well as additional recommended readings. Several days before your trip, you will participate in a mandatory Safety and Security briefing with the Program Visits team and the local Security officer from the region you will be visiting.

During the registration process, we ask about any dietary restrictions or preferences. Within reason, most dietary needs can be accommodated during delegation trips and if for some reason this is impossible, the registrant will be notified in advance of the trip. Because IRC operates in many remote locations, there will likely be limited options for meal alternatives at some points during the trip, and therefore it is important to be prepared for the likelihood of meal repetition.

How to cancel: If you would like to cancel your participation in the trip, contact Program.Visits@rescue.org. In your email, please indicate whether you would like a partial refund (see below for our refund policy) or prefer to donate your trip fee. In the case of a cancellation, the non-refundable deposit, and any additional donated portion of the trip fee, will be used as a donation to the hosting IRC country office and a thank you letter and tax receipt will be emailed to the cancelled registrant.

Refund policy: In order to register for the trip, a non-refundable deposit is required. This amount is different for each trip and can be found on the trip invitation and registration page. The deposit cannot be refunded for any reason, other than IRC has cancelled or postponed the trip. The remaining balance of the trip fee may be refunded if the registrant cancels more than 45 days prior to the trip arrival date. Within 45 days of the trip, IRC may have already incurred expenses related to domestic air and land travel, accommodations, and other non-cancellable charges, which the registrant may be held responsible for. Any refunds will be applied back to the credit card used to pay for the trip fee.

IRC will cancel a donor delegation program visit if the number of registrants does not meet the threshold for covering trip costs and allowing for a minimum donation size to the hosting country program. A visit may also be canceled due to unforeseen circumstances related to safety, or changes in the hosting country program staff capacity.

There are 6 spots available for this visit on a first come, first served basis. When the trip is full, a waitlist will open.